What: An op-ed in Nature calls for changing how cancer types are classified, moving away from naming cancers for where tumors are located (i.e. breast, lung, ovarian) and instead classifying and treating them based on their molecular structures.
Why it matters: The authors argue that the current classification system limits patients to treatments tested on tumors in a given organ, when there is evidence that tumors across different locations of the body but with similar molecular structures could be effectively treated with the same drugs.
Source: Nature